Maverick ZINE — Tattoo Culture, Art & Artist Stories

What's happening [screaming] everybody? This is Austin from Support Your Local Tattooer. I'm here today with one of my personal favorite. He's my one of my personal favorite tattooers. Extremely impressive, just focusing on a largecale Japanese mostly a traveled man, shop owner, an inspiration to your peers, I think. So, I'm stoked to be here with you. This is Manny Fernandez. Yeah.

Hello everybody. What's up? We'll try to keep these mics kind of close to these mics today. Make sure our audio is on points, but um yeah, man. So, we we uh we want to we want to know more about you. We want to know a little bit of like where you came from and stuff. I love like, you know, I always we always kind of start out the show with just a little origin story of how we got into this crazy industry or inspirations and little trials and tribulations. Sound like you came from like I think we spoke about graffiti was like a big community that you were a part of when you were a youngster, right?

Like most of us that are our age, you know, and then you ran into some some some [ __ ] fun people that taught you some [ __ ] I remember. Didn't you say you started like just by hanging out with them and like tattooing out of or you had homies that tattooed out of houses or something? And yeah, my graffiti homies. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Tattooing in the backyards trying to like figure out the what is what website they got Google or whatever they were using to buy.

So what year roughly was that? Like eBay. Oh, okay. You were popping [ __ ] off of eBay to get a get supplies. I don't remember. I don't think Amazon was a thing back then. Oh, yeah. Something from online.

Probably like 200 six 2007 something like that. You count that as kind of like when you started tattooing or like do you have like a professionally? For sure. It's like when during those times is when I started realizing what tattoos were. Yeah. I had some homies that like went and got tattooed at shops and stuff and I went and seen that. " You know? " Yeah.

Those were You remember like some of your first experiences and feel those feels of when you rolled into like a real shop? Were you intimidated or or just more excited and intrigued? Yeah, I don't I was just excited to be there. It was different. It was a different world, you know. Yeah. Not intimidated because everybody was pretty welcoming back then or at least, you know, there it was. We're customers, so they treat you nice, you know.

It's not like you're in there trying to learn. Yeah. So, they'll treat you different if you're in there trying to get an apprenticeship, but like Yeah. You you didn't go in there. Give them some money. Yeah. They're like, damn. Yeah.

Those first like experiences I always thought were super fun. Like I feel like I could like smell the green soap and cigarettes. Yeah. One of the first dudes that tattooed one of my friends like came from t came from graffiti too. Oh, okay. Cool. So they were like that's probably why it clicked up and like ended up Yeah. So that's like my first look into a shop or anything like that.

Yeah. Graffiti through the homies. That was all in Los Vegas or No. Yeah. All here in Vegas. Yeah. I was wild when I was young. Do you remember some of those shops names?

Uh, I don't remember their names too much. Like I'm thinking I think it was Last Chance. Oh, okay. Maybe. Yeah. Yeah. It was on Rainbow and Flamingo. Rainbow.

Flamingo. Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That was right up the street. That's what it was called back then. It was little though.

It was like a little like there was like three stations. I remember. It was like a short. It was when Ryan Downey owned it, you think? I don't know. Yeah. Well, that shop's changed hands like a lot over the years. That place has grown.

Yeah. So, yeah. Back in the day. Yeah. It was like a tiny little thing. There was like three artists, dude. It was in the backst. I remember.

Yeah. My homie got a Wuango. Rest in peace. Yeah. No [ __ ] Damn. So, then you got in you got in like uh I think you mentioned like how hard were you into graffiti? You were like Yeah. got like pretty obsessed with it.

Yeah. Yeah. I dropped out of high school because I didn't have like a good I didn't have credits because I came here when I was young. So, English was my second language and Oh, okay. I was doing bad in school because of that. Yeah. So, I just like dropped out. Just started painting every night by myself.

Yeah. He eventually caught up on me and I got in trouble for it. [snorts] And Yeah. What? Yeah. Tell us a little bit about that. [laughter] I never got caught. I ran but never got caught.

Yeah, pretty much. You got caught. I ran and I got caught and [laughter] and I was like I think I was like 16. So like they just took me to Jubie and I had to go to court and eventually they sent me to JobCore. Yeah. Which is it's a school in Reno and that's pretty much how I learned to be a maintenance man. And so before I tattooed, I was a maintenance guy. Yeah.

Just like fixing [ __ ] at apartments. Yeah. It was a good gig though. Yeah. It was It's a cool job. It's chill, you know? But like Yeah. I got bored.

I was like, I want to do something else. I was doing art. I wasn't like doing graffiti how I used to, but I was like involved in it and like doing art and paintings and trying to do First Fridays. Yeah. And Yeah. So basically I was like, I want to learn how to tattoo. Did you have anybody like, you know, that was really influencing you in art and early days? Like were your parents artists or anything or No.

No. No. Just kind of like came out of My dad later on I found out my dad went to art school. Oh, okay. Cuz my dad was a barber. So I he kind would, you know, kind Yeah. Yeah. So he was always around people and like cutting hair and stuff.

So I just knew him as that. Okay. But when I was young, he drew a really cool picture once on like a poster boy poster board size, you know? Yeah. Of like a superhero dude from this cartoon I liked. " Yeah. You can just like create [ __ ] out of nowhere and make a poster. Yeah.

[laughter] Yeah. Sick. That was the only time I ever saw him draw something. Yeah. After that, I think like his job was just to take care of us because like we left Cuba like when I was young and like it was like a one day to another decision that was made and like we were in the storm hurricane and like almost died and like Yeah, dude. You spoke a little surviving that like was crazy, you know? Like my mom prayed to God a lot and like we survived that. So like that was like you were a little guy too.

Yeah. And his job was kind of like to figure out how to take care of us here, you know, dude. Yeah. That's some real [ __ ] So they were not like ever influencing me with like art or music or any kind of hobbies. Like sometimes I'm like, man, I wish it would have been like, hey, look, you kind of draw something here some, but it was just busy trying to survive like working. But just picked up on hobbies on my own, which you applied that I'm assuming you pick up that work ethic from them then, you know, and you just apply it to your creative world and you're one of the hardest working dudes I know. Yeah. " It's like, kind of like put your batteries on, you know?

Oh, okay. [laughter] I like that again. Pontil. Okay. I need to say that to my [ __ ] kids. Yeah. So, it's like kind of like Mexicans are like get [ __ ] done. Yeah.

So that's for sure. Dang. I learned. So when I see an apprentice, you know, I'm like I feel like when I was an apprentice, at least the cleaning part of it, like I was like I came in there and I tried to do it quick and I was like and I want to see like other apprentices do that, right? Like look like you're in a race to go draw. Yeah. Don't just come in, oh it's just like I'm going to clean this floor because it's it's nice. This is the easy part of the day.

No, just get that [ __ ] done. Like you want to do something else, you know? How was your apprenticeship like? So, you went from graffiti, you started meeting guys that were tattooing out of their houses and stuff, but like did you have Yeah. So, yeah. How did that lead to like an actual a professional apprenticeship or Yeah, through meeting people, you know, and like ended up feel like being like I want to get an apprenticeship. I had a friend who had an apprenticeship. So, I was like I kind of knew what an apprenticeship was kind of like what the word was, you know, like Yeah.

through through that. " Okay. I always like learn how to do everything on YouTube. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. " Right. So, I found an apprenticeship at a shop called Blackwolf, which back then was like a good shop.

Yeah. And like I was there for like seven months apprenticing. I did one tattoo on myself and I I was living on my own. I had a car payment. I worked as a maintenance guy from like 8 to 5. Yeah. And then I went to the shop on my days off. I just be at the shop full time, you know?

Yeah. But apparently like I didn't have what it takes. I wasn't dedicated enough. Yeah. So I got fired because I couldn't be full-time. I just in my mind I didn't understand like how was I gonna be full-time when you were working full time. I was taking care of myself, right? So like but that like pushed me and I'm and I'm like grateful that that happened.

I'm happy for that journey because it like pushed me to be who I am today, you know? So I'm like grateful that all of those things have pushed me and I got a job back there again like six months later. Yeah. With the same dude. He took you back. Yep. back at the same shop. So, you obviously didn't like burn the bridge or anything, you know?

You just kind of kept a good relationship. " Yeah, that's great. Just did that. You were drawing a lot like at that time like Not really. Like I just like or just trying to understand. I just made art. Yeah. You know, like like I just like like saw a canvas and I was like, I'm just going to draw for this canvas.

" Like, I didn't learn about that till I got into tattooing. And the more serious it got, the more important I realized drawing and like that's how you become original and like Yeah, that's like a whole different field, right? But in the beginning, like when you're new, you're just like, "Oh, like do a traditional rose and Yeah. " thing when we were grow into it. It was like that was available that you were still supposed to do. And then once Instagram came around and I started learning about other artists and seeing what's possible, I'm like, whoa, like how do I do that and how do I like make the stuff that not so many people are making, right? How do I cater towards trying to cater what the people I look up to are catering Yeah. towards, you know?

Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, I'm grateful for tattooing because it's definitely like given me like more than I can even like more than I dreamed of. Yeah. At times, you know, where I'm just like, man, like I'm grateful for the people I met and all the things I learned by being around artists I met and getting tattooed by them and seeing how they have gone through the same troubles that I gone or I'm going through. You know, it's it's cool to see that. Yeah. What What are some of those artists that like picked you up and really like I don't know, maybe lit a fire under your ass to like start pursuing like similar type of things that they were doing or styles or you know.

Yeah. I think his stars for sure with Philip Blue. Yeah. Like number one, you know, like he was like the first one and then she gay. Yeah. You know, like those two dudes were like the first people I like saw that were doing like good color and good black and gray and it's huge. Yeah. Was like large scale work like something that really stood out to you right off the bat?

I mean, and and want you wanted to pursue it like got a young No, I think it took it took me like maybe like three, four years to start kind of liking it and then really learn figuring out how to pursue it. Took more time, you know. Yeah, but in the beginning like I thought Japanese was like played out really. Yeah. I was like you have a koiish sleeve like you know and you know now I'm like dude Japanese is a style that will never run out of style you know. Yeah. It's timeless like traditional you know but being new to it being so innocent. I didn't know it's like oh it's all about the new stuff and like Yeah.

All your graffiti influence and stuff too is like pushing you probably. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Right. Right. When you first started trying to draw Japanese, was it was it all like animated like 90s style [ __ ] or [clears throat] did you I don't know. I think it just happened like organically.

Yeah. you know, like just like I'll do a lighthouse and try to do waves and somehow there were like finger waves and you know, like organically like it just kind of happened like just drawing different things and then I think like going to conventions, starting to like bring more Japanese designs with me and then going to like Japan and Taiwan like changed my whole outlook on everything life, you know, like it's a culture shock going there. Yeah. So, like how much time did you get to spend over there or were those two separate trips or Yeah, I was in So, I went to Japan. I was there for a week and then I was in Taiwan for another week and there in Taiwan I did the I Love Tattoo Convention. Oh, yeah. Which was like in 2019. Okay.

And that right before Crazy. Yeah. Right before CO it was like everywhere I met Philip Blue there. Damn. Okay. And like Mike Dorsy was there. He had an exhibition. I got a painting from him.

An original. Oh, dope. The one that's like with the gay show. It's like the cover of his book. Yeah. Was that the one that you're you had [laughter] the issue with? I don't want to tell that story. I thought it was a [ __ ] terrible funny story.

Yeah, going to that convention for sure was sick because like I got to see bodysuits and I got to absorb all that and I went home with like a different mentality. Yeah. And every tattoo I did in that convention I hated. " Like, but that pushed me like that changed me a lot. And then COVID happened. So it just like put everything on pause, but it like helped me focus on my drawing and like where I wanted to go with it. Yeah. And then I had to finally hang that painting I got from Mike Dorsy, right?

It's a big one, right? Yeah. Real big. It was Yeah. It's like It's like 4 foot by six foot or something. It's like as wide as this. Yeah. It's like four by six something like that.

Like beautiful watercolor. Yeah, I paid 2400 bucks for it. That's awesome. It's like the most I ever paid for a painting. Yeah. At the time. And like I was like, this is like my most precious thing. Yeah.

I went to lay it out. It was like on a very thick watercolor paper, so like it would just like roll back up, right? So I laid it out. " And then later on you can iron it. Oh. So I was like, "Okay, cool. Whoa. I put I had some turntables, right?

So, it's like a like a black like a flat thing, right? And it's heavy. Yeah. So, that like one on each side like made it flat, right? Okay. " So, I go in the room where I was flying out the painting and my dog is in there and apparently like he like went in and that door shuts closed so he couldn't get out. Yeah. And I must have not closed it all the way when I left.

So, he bumped it open. Right. So he got stuck in there and like ripped like a corner of the painting, ate it, and then ripped it like all the way almost like right into almost like her face. Oh, he was like straight in there just tearing at it just hungry. I think he was actually pretty good for like the amount of time he could have been in there, you know, like. [laughter] So yeah, he I almost cried that day. " Like I was responsible for this painting and like now it's like Yeah. And then this [ __ ] up.

[laughter] So I like send Mike Dorsy a picture. I was like, "Hey dude, like what do we Dorsy was like looks like your dog didn't approve of it. " Like I kind of built a small friendship. You know, he's given me a lot of advice on like paper to use. brushes and things like that. And he took the painting, fixed it. Dude, that's crazy. Went in it, cut it, went through the back of it, put a piece of paper on it, like put letters on it, like send it back to me.

Didn't even charge me for it. Damn. Super cool. He's like one of the coolest dudes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You got some other He's so busy, too, you know?

Like, yeah, he paints so much and he's tattooing, too. And he still has time to like respond to your DMs, you know what I mean? It's like, dude. Yeah. [ __ ] cool. Yeah, that's great. Did you do you ever get tattooed by him or No, no, I never been tattooed by him. Okay.

Who are some of your favorite people you've been? I do want to go visit him though. Yeah. Like Yeah, it's something I always told myself I want to do. Like I forget where he comes in the Pacific Northwest or where's he at? I think it's I don't want to say the wrong place. Yeah, [laughter] it might be like Ohio or some kind of like Midwestish northern middle. Yeah, something like that.

Idaho or Ohio. One of those two. Well, Idaho be like right above us. I'm not sure. Yeah, [laughter] my geography is not the best. Damn. So, what else is going on in your world? You got a lot um you had some recent fun projects that you had to keep secret.

You got to participate [clears throat] in the the seasons inc master, right? So, you're on it live right now. Yeah, pretty much. So, I know you can't talk about it much, but uh I personally have had like uh a lot of friends that have been on there and that can be some pretty stressful [ __ ] Like, I've gone and tried out and filmed pilots and stuff and it has the ability to get into your head whether you like it or not, you know? Yeah. Especially with tattooing because we take our job so serious, you know, that like you go in there and like you're getting critiqued for a long time and you're absorbing all that, but you also never been told those things about your work and like you take it so serious that you like have nightmares about it. Yeah.

[laughter] Yeah. I dude, I can't even imagine. So, yeah, I know you can't talk about it too much, but uh you had some fun running or you you've had like multiple people on the show that you kind of lightly knew, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Okay, cool. So, you were semicomfortable at times. Yes.

Around some buds or Everybody was really fun. Oh, that's good. Everybody's like super cool. Yeah. You know, so like it wasn't like you have beef with people and people are making you feel awkward. Like it's it's a fun cast to be with. Like everyone that works there is super cool and like they help you out with what you need. So it's it's a really fun process.

Yeah. And everything is real. Like you know the first couple days we're all like kind of like nervous and trying to feel each other out laughing with each other because we have to be competitive you know but then we start realizing okay like this is a competition and we need to be serious about it right. So it is serious you know. Yeah. And like I love that personally because I love like challenging myself and putting myself in like a competition setting. Yeah. That's why I like doing conventions.

Yeah. And trying to do a back piece in two days and enter it in the competition cuz like that drives me, you know? I go home and I'm like I could have done more, but like I also learned a lot and I learned what to do, what not to do, right? So like putting yourself in that situation, it's like important for me. So for sure that's like one of the best things I done in my career when it comes to like a challenge. Yeah. You know, cuz it's really like it's like you're outside of your comfort zone when it comes to like preparing for your tattoo. You have to do it on the spot, you know, and the time there goes by really fast.

" Yeah. No, it's just like flies, dude. Yeah. So, like, and you're not doing it on your own time. It's like whenever like it has to be done and like it's like things like that are like challenging. Yeah. When you're used to like your routine for like 10 years, you know? Yeah.

Yeah. That's great though. That's all good exercise. like all of the the repetition and exercise of tattooing that you've done in the past. All those challenging moments with clients all kind of just led up to this, right? And then connects. Yeah. And then you're just in there [ __ ] getting it.

Yeah. And it was I mean going back on like people I look up to, you know, like through Instagram and things like that. I found James Tex, you know, and like I have my back tattooed by him. My Yeah, dude. You showed me that last time. It's beautiful, dude. So he's a big inspiration [clears throat] of yours, too. And yeah, I like to say big inspiration and a friend, you know, and like he's welcome me to his house and I've been tattooed there and like he's a good dude, you know?

So when I found out we were there together, I was like, dude, like those are the moments where I'm like telling you that tattooing gives you things that you don't even you never even dreamed of. You know what I mean? because I'm like now I'm like here with my hero. Yeah. And like he has my back. That's cool. You know, like we're gonna It's a cool experience I got to experience on top of being with like people I look up to, you know? Yeah.

So things like that are really cool. That's cool. I'm I'm excited to see it and uh see how it unfolds. But I'm sure you'll I think it's gonna This is one of the best seasons made just cuz like Yeah. the whole like OG's versus Young Guns and like that's cool. Everyone there is really good. So like we all didn't know each other. So when we did got to meet each other, we're like looking at each other's work and we're all like damn.

Yeah. Like everyone here is a monster. Like if I got to go up against you with what you do, I'm I'm gonna have to make some magic happen. Yeah. Yeah. Pulling pulling all the tools out the box. [laughter] And that was fun, you know. Yeah.

Yeah, because like I mean that's the whole point of going there like showing that you can do everything, you know? So like I like I had fun doing it. That's good. You feel like I don't know. Um obviously it turned out great no matter what. How like where to where to now? Do you do you feel like you take any of those experiences and apply it to anything kind of coming up or I I guess you can't really talk about. Yeah.

Like I like just like trying to sometimes do things more like on the fly. Yeah. You know. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like pushing your styles. Like two days ago I had a client come in for a consultation and I was in tattooing that day and he was like I want you to like fill in this gap and ra and I was like I don't know what to do on that.

Yeah. And as soon as I like was gonna draw whatever idea I had, like another idea came to me and I drew it out on the fly and I was like, "It looks cool. " Yeah. [ __ ] it. So like I feel like that's almost like a walk-in, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

It's great. I like I want to push myself more like that as an artist. Yeah. Even though I believe is important to like be very prepared. I'm also like when I'm doing a big piece like recently I've been doing like two three versions of it and spending like three four days on making those versions and then commit looking at them and I'm like asking people which one they like more and then from there I'm like okay like I'm gonna commit to this one you know and then really refine that. Yeah. So I believe in like preparation is important as well too, but also sometimes like seeing what you can pull out of your hat, what what you have there is it's a fun exercise. Yeah, for sure.

And it it builds cool uh reputation or uh relationships with those clients, too. Like when when they see you just pull some big random custom [ __ ] right out, you know, of your ass and they're you guys just sit down and do it. The energy is so strong there and fun and it's cool as hell. And it happened like I don't know like I feel like it hap I when I was doing that I was thinking like for me drawing on people or like drawing sometimes is like singing in public like sometimes everyone's just literally staring sometimes you're like I can do this and then sometimes you're a little shy and embarrassed right? Yeah. And like you got to like just kind of rem remind yourself like but you did this thing really good the other day and it just came out of nowhere.

So it's like it's in you. So just have some confidence and like keep working on that, you know, cuz sometimes I feel like you can get in your head and like people can be watching and like you can freeze, you know? Yeah. Which was something I was scared of about going on Inkmaster, right? Like am I going to freeze and feel like that? But like luckily I didn't have that. I was like good focused the whole time. It was I had a good a good time.

Yeah. Damn. Good. I don't know why that just reminded me drawing like I was working the Calgary convention back in the day and I I don't know if I already told this story or not but I was sitting there drawing this dragon on somebody. It was just same situation. Walk up and he's like I want this whole my whole forearm I'm done right now but this dragon and I don't draw traditional Japanese dragons. I draw them all weird and funky. But I was sitting there drawing that thing and I just felt this presence of somebody standing over me and I turn around and it's [ __ ] James Tex and I was like I just felt like I just peed in my pants, you know?

[laughter] I was like, "God damn, man. " It's like you see all the mistakes in your tattoo immediately. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Just all stressed out. But [laughter] so I can't imagine doing it on TV with cameras all on you. Cameras make people freeze up too.

They make us all kind of like second guess what we're doing and saying and honestly like for me the easiest part was tattooing. Yeah. Like tattooing like the cameras none of that really mattered. Yeah. Yeah, it was more like the you live and breathe other parts like getting critiqued and things like that that I was like there was times that I was like cold and there was times where I was like sweating bullets. I was like now I know what sweating bullets means. [laughter] Was it a big studio setup kind of you know get in there and there's a lot of Yeah. Like I used I used to think it was like in this like tattoo shop building or something but no it's like an actual real set you know and like Yeah.

impressive. Yeah, I heard a lot of good things about the people behind it and everything these days that they're really really passionately into tattooing. Obviously, they're curating these groups of people uh and just that the groups just keep getting better and better. So awesome. Yeah, everyone's cool. Like it's it's hard job, you know. Yeah, it's crazy how many ties of Vegas has to it repeatedly, you know, like DJ and there's been a lot of Vegas artist used to live here. you you know um I don't know there's a whole bunch of them you know that have been through there and that have had shops here or moved on or whatever but it's pretty wild I don't know if there's any city that has cool watching DJ too you know because dude I grew up pretty much looking up to him you know I got my chest done by him so whole front panel and if you told me that or not even when I was on the show I was like dude like it's like an honor to tattoo like with James and Anthony and like you here like you guys are like all my favorite tattooers like I'm [ __ ] stoked to be here, you know?

Yeah, they they're there for a [ __ ] reason. And you're right. And every time I'm like around those guys like at conventions and stuff, I'm like I get like I want to show them what I can do. Right. So be like I want this, you know, this I want to be on your level one day. [laughter] That's great, man. Dude, I like I was digging through your Instagram. Did you like have like some sort of app or something?

How the hell do you get your Instagram so well organized with all I don't Oh, cuz it looks great. But yeah, I just you have like the full body suits and like nine panels on a grid or whatever or more. I don't know. Yeah, I just think about like I don't know. Like something told me like to do things in threes, so I just started like just like always posting things in threes. I don't know. It probably like [ __ ] out my algorithm and [ __ ] but like I don't really care. I just like I like the way it looks like that.

So, I just like try to keep it organized like that. Did you go through and like reprep anything or rebuild your personal website or anything before you went on your master and try to get you already had all that pre? No, like I just I have a website made just for my prints and my art. Yeah. If you want to book an appointment, but like I'm easy like you just send me a DM and I'll respond through there, you know? Yeah. Like the Instagram thing it's like to me like that's our like portfolio, you know? Like I like in my shop, we don't have portfolios.

Like we have a little board where you can scan it and see people's Instagrams and that's people's portfolios. Okay. Right. Cuz like Yeah. It's constantly being updated. Yeah. The new generation doesn't make portfolios. They never like been like I never seen one of them be like, "Man, I really want to like print out these pictures.

" You know, like that doesn't happen anymore. But it's cool. " Yeah. You're going to follow them and they're like know what they're doing, you know? Yeah. So that's kind of like important to keep in mind. Do you feel did you have you seen like an influx of traffic or people DMing you and stuff like from the show already or is that kind of slow? There's been like people like people randomly popping in the shop the internet you know people are weird people are cool people are friendly people are but mostly people have been cool and supportive yeah I would think so following saying they like the tattoos that's great you know I did try to do like the tattoos I done like they're different like I didn't do exactly what I do all the time but my whole goal was to like push myself to do something different.

Yeah. That I never done before. So like I'm happy with what I did and I learned some things from it that I'm now evolving into like a new style I'm creating which that's the whole point of art, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. What do you Yeah. So tell me a little bit about that.

Like you got a clear vision on where you're going or you just Not not really like just messing with some I think like I like doing different stuff, right? So, I don't really like it's hard for me to just choose like one specific formula of how to do a tattoo cuz there's different ways to do it, you know? Yeah. So, it's mostly just like when I see that client, what they want, what they let me do, right? And like how I'm feeling about it. if I want to go like a more illustrative way but like keeping it with traditional colors and more flat or if I want to do like more illustrated and shade it more neotrad with like more black shading and like different color blends and [ __ ] like that you know. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. So I guess like I don't really have like I like to bounce around and see what Well, yeah. And that's kind of fun part about your clientele can can push you in a positive way to try new things and still keeping it like Manny. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Manny sprinkle on it. You know what I mean?

But like what's kind of you do use like a lot of digital tools and stuff too I noticed. But you still are real great about painting on paper and stuff too. So you you tell me a little bit about your process. Like how does someone get to the point to do so much largescale work? Obviously, you got to get some out there to show them, right? And yeah, I think because I was never thought I just do everything the way I think people do it. Yeah. Yeah.

You know, I'm like, why would this guy do it, right? So, yeah. And I and I'm thinking like that's what Michelangelo was doing, you [laughter] know, like fake it till you make it kind of, you know, right? I'm going to pursue what these guys are doing. So, I just like try to Yeah. do what I think people are doing. And then I don't have a formula. Like sometimes I'll do it on the iPad.

Sometimes I'll do it on a piece of paper this big 10 times and then blow it up. Right. Yeah. Right. Or some some days like normally I just been liking like looking at shapes. Mhm. And like trying to find a dragon inside that shape or a claw or something. Right.

Like this shape right here. Like try to like what do you see there? I see a snake. you know, really, you know? Okay. I mean, that's so like I'll try to like draw stuff on top of that and get inspired by that or like I like to sometimes come in the shop and just like doodle random [ __ ] Yeah. And then one of those might look cool and then I'll put that on the iPad and work on it later and turn it into like an up for grabs. So sometimes I'll do that.

When it comes to bigger stuff, I always freehand something on the body during a consultation so I can see like where the muscles land and understand the shape of each person. So then that way I can like draw to the body. So you'll you'll have them come in consultation sit down rough [clears throat] sketch and then take pictures and then fine-tune from there. Yeah. Oh, okay. Hey, that's normally when I do that, I always sometimes I might look at some pictures Yeah. beforehand or if they show me what they want, I'll like put that away and I'll try to just draw it from my head. And like it's not a very good drawing either.

It's like I tell my clients it's like a stick figure drawing of your tattoo, but like I'm understanding the size of how the face should look and like if this guy has a crazy bone or whatever, you know? Yeah. Some people have like big butts, some love handles, whatever. Yeah. Yeah. I think about all those things and then that's what helps me draw for them. I can't just get a drawing from my sketchbook and put it on them. Yeah.

All the time. It can be done sometimes. Just depends on the shape of the person. Yeah. Yeah. That's that's awesome. So then you'll come back and then you do you test fit them again and they come back again? No, I just like I get I draw it on them.

I measure everything when they're there. Okay. And I have measurements of their body. So then when I make the drawing, I'll make my my paper size on my iPad, whatever measurements I have from my client. And then yeah, when I print out the stencil, I have a before I will have to make it in pieces, but now I have a a large printer that prints stencils straight from the printer. So I can print a whole bodysuit stencil. Oh, okay. Widthwise from the iPad.

Why? That's it. So that saved me a lot of time and it's actually made me better, too, because I've been able to like have different stencil size. Okay. you know, and that's help me like kind of be like, okay, like okay, giving me more options makes you more better, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

You don't ever do like the old school like big pieces of tracing paper anymore and highlighter kind of the edges or I used to do that, but it's just like a waste of paper. Yeah. And like it's still crumbly and then I got to carry that [ __ ] around. So, like with this formula I got, it's worked out good because I just get exact measurements and I make my iPad size those measurements. Yeah, that's great. Yeah. And then that way I know like when you say when I print it out, it'll be exactly that measurement. Yeah.

And if I want to stretch it or make it a little bit extra, I now I know like, okay, I need two more inches. Be like, yeah. Print it out. Damn. Are you printing like inkjet style print but with the stencil material in? So it's an Epson printer. Okay. And it's like inkjet stencil liquid stuff and then just comes out on a roll of tracing paper and I use a thin tracing paper that works good.

It's harder than what we use but it's better for me. In the beginning I was having a hard time getting used to it but now I like it more because I can control it more. It's not as flimsy. Oh, okay. Okay. You do probably like a handful. I always did those like Yeah, there might be some spots where like for sure, but it's like such a hard paper that I can just like push on it and it doesn't it doesn't rip cuz sometimes when I use the regular Thermopax paper and I wipe to put the stencil on, it rips because I'm used to the the harder one now. The [ __ ] is very delicate.

Okay. Yeah, that's rad. And then you'll come in with markers and kind of fine-tune everything. And then sometimes, yeah, if I have to around the butt area, sometimes I'll freehand the background, you know? Yeah. Then Oh, man. That's I have a YouTube channel that I'm kind of like working on here and there. It's Manny's Revolution.

Okay. So, if you go on my YouTube, you can see a video on the printer, and I pretty much made a video on how to set it up and how to feed the paper into it. And that's cool, things like that. So, you can get an idea of like what you can do with it. Yeah, that's awesome. Because you can print out realistic stuff on there and like do portraits and it's an inject printer, but it prints 24 inches wide, but however long you want. Okay. So, you can print out banners if you want.

And like it's pretty it's pretty cool. Oh [ __ ] Yeah. You were on some new [ __ ] too, like with your lighting setup last time I was over there. You said like Fibs had walked you through some stuff on uh that crazy lighting. Like he seems to be the king of lighting. Yeah. Like before the iPad I used to use the Wacom. Okay.

And I like I got into it like probably like in 2014. Yeah. I bought one and I just I don't know. the iPad came out and that was like game changer. Dude, the second like the the Procreate and the iPad came out, I was that was it clicked for you. It was so user friendly and so easy to then there was like just a pen machine, right? And then it was wireless. Yeah.

Yeah. That's rad. The lights. Yeah. Yeah. It's like a $500 light. Yeah. But it's bright.

Yeah. It's crazy bright. You tattoo like kind of in a tight corner, [clears throat] dude. I don't know. Like you're doing all this huge work and you're all like I like that Japanese type vibe, you know, like when you go to Japan, everything is tight and like it's just what you need and I don't have to walk around far to grab my things, you know? Yeah. Yeah, that's true. I always had a dream of being in the middle of a warehouse.

Like I always just feel like I just need tons of space. " But yeah, I can't I can't cozy. I used to be in the front and it was like more open, but then I like made that little spot in the back. Yeah, I mostly made it so I can I was like, how am I going to put all my paintings in my station because I had all these paintings that I had made. So, I figured it out. Yeah, put it in there. Your shop is beautiful. I like I really love it, dude.

And I know this was the this was the original. No, this is the your second shop because you had two shops at once, right? Yeah. So this one was the first I had to build three shops. The first shop I had like only I was in that location for one year and it didn't work out. So then I moved into the shop. Oh, okay. That I am now and that's been like 10 years already.

Yeah. And like eight like in 2019. Yeah. In 20 in 20 February of 2020 I opened the Oh my god. Yeah. the shop. I took over the shop where I apprenticed at originally. Yeah.

Yeah. So, I had that shop until December of last year. So, like three years I had the shop. Yeah. And I like took over it, rebuild it because I thought like I didn't want it to close down and like it had a lot of history. Oh, okay. You know, people in Vegas have worked there and like I learned there. So, it's like before co things were great, you know, so it's like, yeah, we can do this.

And then I did it and it was a fun journey. Yeah. And you we kind of talked about that too like you kind of reached the point where you were like you wanted to focus more on your tattooing than running multiple shops is it's a lot to handle, you know, like a lot of relationships, a lot of personalities in two different places. And did you ever I don't know what what are kind of like some of the big things that led you to like making that difficult decision to like shut down that that second shop? mostly like just I really wanted to be in the shop every day with the people I work with. Yeah. You know, like and then it felt like one week I was over here and one week I was over there and then one week I'm like, man, I wish this people knew this or I missed this and Right.

So, and like going to conventions and guest spots. Sometimes I wouldn't be there for like a month, you know, three weeks and then it's like everybody thinks you're off just living the best life ever and like nothing. And and the shops were running good. people were good and doing their thing, but it was just more like me personally. Like I wanted to be there and I wanted to like show up every day and like draw with people and like vibe and like grow as a team and like having two shops. It's like now you have to be a little bit more of a businessman and it's like if if you want to be an artist is hard and I like I love doing art. Yeah. More than I like being a businessman.

So it's just like Yeah. you know, like given my run, I think it's healthier for me to grow. Yeah. Yeah. With like a tight circle, how I originally thought of, you know? Yeah. And like that's been a good move cuz like the shop has a good vibe now. Every day I'm there and like we're inspiring each other and like we do things together and like we do little like drawing challenges together and like that's fun, you know?

Yeah. I'm constantly trying to find my balance there with the same issues, you know. Uh the one one thing I always enjoy every time I go into your shop, I see like everybody if they're not tattooing, they're creating art. Is there is there some sort What's the secret there if you don't keeping your team I [clears throat] mean motivated, you know, to be creating and not negative when they're not busy. And I don't know, you got any secrets share with us? I think a big part of that is like positivity, you know, like being positive, being grateful for tattooing is something that everybody forgets about every day, you know? Yeah. Like we have no idea like how good we have it.

We're we're spoiled. Especially in America. Like I traveled and done conventions all over the world and we get the most money. Yeah. You know, when it comes to charging, like we're spoiled, you Yeah. So, like that's one thing, you know, having all these nice things like having a shop to work at. Like we live a lot of people's dream lives, especially in other countries, you know. So, like because I came from that, I'm constantly every day thankful to God and for like tattooing because he's given me everything I have.

Yeah. And it's my passion. I love it. Right. I love making art. I love being creative. just the same way I am with music. So like I'm grateful I'm in this country where I can do that every day and get paid for it.

Yeah. You know, so like why am I not gonna like worry about doing a good job and giving back to tattooing? Yeah. That's giving me everything, right? And all I have to do is like make paintings. Yeah. Which is part of the job. And it's going to get me tattoos and like it all like adds up and you get what you put in.

So, like that's what I try to tell people at the shop. I just try to remind them of that. Like, hey, like, you know, you're going to get what you put in. Yeah. And if you want to be great, you will be great, but you're just going to have to like follow these steps. Yeah. And expect nothing other than just continuing to be humble and grow to enjoy it. You know, if you're like painting and you're stoked about doing this design you just thought of, like you're not going to be worrying about like, man, no one hit me up.

No one sent me a DM because I couldn't book an appointment or no one's hitting me up to book an appointment after I posted five of these up for grabs. Yeah, who cares? Just like worry about making the next up for grabs. Yeah, post [ __ ] five more when you have 20 of them. Maybe, trust me, one of those will be done and you're going to be a better artist instead of being a negative artist, [laughter] which gets you [ __ ] nowhere, right? It's not. And then, you know, like this country pushes depression. They like like to like sprinkle that [ __ ] on people.

So, people start telling themselves that's what it is. And like, dude, if you work hard, you're not going to be depressed. going to be too worried trying to like focus on what you love and the rest is going to take care of itself, you know. It really does. Yeah. You just got to you just got to stick with it. There somebody out there has it worse than you do, you know? Yeah.

So, and somebody has it better, you know. So, it's just about That's beautiful. Yeah. It's true. It's like being positive with what you have, being creative because it's giving you everything you have. Yeah. And it'll take care of you. You know, because you're putting in when you're gone, what do you want to leave behind?

Your tattoos on Instagram or like a couple books that other people can like buy and like download and remember you for your drawing that now somebody else can learn from that, you know? Yeah, that's true. Damn. I like that. Um [ __ ] man. I know you got a busy day today. You got you you got some guests in town. Andy Foe's in town, right?

He's going to be working at your shop this week. That's exciting. Uh, do you guys plan on you guys? Do you ever do collabs with like guest artists and stuff? Yeah, I I never done one before. Yeah, I did one with Anthony Tex. Oh, what? Started a back piece.

Really? Yeah. Okay. Two Hanyas on a Las Vegas guy or where was he at? One of my clients. Okay. And I had another friend from Costa Rica, Dan. Yeah.

He came when we did a dude's chest piece in one day. Okay. Damn, that's fun. Yeah, those have been good collabs. Damn. So, if anybody wants to do a collab and guest spot Yeah. hit me up. Yeah.

Locally, from out of town, whatever. Dude, that's what beautiful like thing about Las Vegas is like even if you're not local, everybody seems to come through here at some point in time. So, it's fun that we have like a good community locally. So many talented tattooers, and then we have all these different guys and gals coming through. It's cool. But, so, uh, yeah. What's your shop again? Revolution Revolution Tattoo Parlor and then shop.

How do we get a hold of you if we want to collaborate? Guess spot. Stop in, say hi, root for you on Inkmaster. Manny's Revolution on social media, Instagram, YouTube. Yeah, mostly on Instagram. You can send me a DM. Cool. Or just hit Revolution and I'm sure my website will probably pop up.

You've got all your convention dates. Uh, well, on your social media and your website. I'm not that good at doing that. No. " Or like sometimes I'll just tell my clients through DMs like that. I already have. Yeah. But yeah, pretty much.

I really appreciate you doing this, sitting down, taking the time. I know you're a busy man. I'm excited. Uh, always excited just to get to know you. You have a funny story for you. Let's do it. All right. I like funny stories.

[laughter] So, like they were telling me to uh like a client that's came in, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I had this client come in once a walk in, right? m. This dude's like probably 50, 60 years old. Yeah.

" So he sees a picture of a Bob Ross portrait I had painted. Okay. And he's like, "Oh, you got Bob Ross over there. " So it's like I actually met Bob Ross in one of the shows I was doing. " Yeah. " So they finish the show and he takes him to the parking lot and he's like walks up to this like big white van that looks all creepy. Yeah. And he like slides the van door open and pulls out a big ass joint and lights it up [laughter] and pulls out a painting and it's like this big titty girl riding the dragon.

Nice. [laughter] The [ __ ] epic fantasy [ __ ] Yeah. And it's like I was like did it like [laughter] like what are the odds of like Bob's random dude just comes in here today and like [laughter] makes my day [ __ ] memorable. Tell me about Bob's titt. [laughter] That's awesome. Dang. And now I always think about like I wish I could see that Bob Ross painting, right? Like I wonder if any of those are out there.

I was like I bet you it was really good. Yeah. [laughter] Some happy little trees in the back. Yeah. Dang. Well, dude. Yeah. Uh I don't want to keep you too long.

I'm super super grateful for uh having you hang out today. So, thank you so much. Thank you for having me. I had a great time talking to you. I know it's already maybe one of these days we can do a collab. Dude, I'm down. I'm miss I'll be completely honest with you. I've been so busy.

I'm missing tattooing and I don't think my my like I don't think my attention span can handle doing all of the big work that you do. So, that's why I admire it so much. But uh I'm down for some little jams, some little, you know, little anything I can start and complete in one afternoon would be fun. So I'm gonna Sometimes you feel like you need that like it's good to like take that break sometimes and miss it a little bit. Yeah, I'm genuinely missing like with more with more energy, you know? I did a couple little tattoos like in the last like a couple weeks ago just on friends that were passing through town and those [ __ ] they want these difficult little tiny tattoos and I'm like I was stressing it's so funny how you just like tattooing is so humbling always like through your whole career there's always moments that just kick you in the ass dude but it motivates you to keep going and you know how do you get that motive a good tip for young tattooers and old tattooers get your ass out there.

Go to conventions, meet people, network, because you're going to meet people and see tattoos that you don't see every day. And that's going to motivate you, and you're going to go home and have this fire under your ass, and it's going to go away in two weeks or a month. So, you got to get your ass out there again and and search for that. Thousand%. You know, get out there, get tattooed by the people that you admire, too. Yeah, for sure. That's always been my favorite thing to like get my foot in the door, start a conversation with people, learn from them, build to, you know, relationships that can last your life. " Yeah, that's awesome.

I Dude, I still have I saved my back my whole entire career and now I feel like I'm like such a wuss. I'm like, I don't know. I'm I'm having trouble getting motivated. But when we were in Austin, Texas, I saw you there. Uh I was watching Chris Prim like shoot this whole entire Grim Reaper he did on this girl's leg from hip to to like literally tip of her toe. And I was I don't know, man. I'm like now I'm like, "Oh [ __ ] I got I got Let's just [ __ ] do this. " You know, I still I haven't tried numbing cream, but some artists don't mind it, you know?

So, it's I I tried it on my clients, but not on myself. Yeah. you know, cuz sometimes if there's a client that I know they're not going to they're not going to come back and they're going to cancel on me, like I'm like, dude, I rather numb you and like it takes a little bit longer, but at least we're getting it done. Yeah. So, sometimes I'll be lenient. But I try to tell them like you you got to earn it a little bit and like go through it so then that way you know like Yeah. what it feels like. If not, you forget you have it.

Yeah. Good, dude. Yeah, man. Thanks again, bud. I appreciate it, man. I'm looking forward to continuing to Thank you. hang out and get to know you more and more. We have our 21-y year anniversary party coming up if you're interested.

Congrats. We're gonna paint uh some vinyl records and we're auction them off for charity. I think I actually did that for your for You guys did that before, right? Yeah. 10 years ago. I have I have the I have the vinyl in my in my bathroom, I think, still. What? I did a shark.

Okay. It was like a shark. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. That was like my That was like probably like a year, two years into tattooing when I did it. Yeah. Okay.

Well, yeah, we're going to bring uh we're try to bring back our group annual show. Ever since COVID everything just got weird and we just got lazy, I guess, but um every December we're going to try to do something to raise money for charities. We donate 100% of the proceeds to uh this year we're doing it for uh for the city. They raise money for food banks for kids and uh families in need. So, we're bring a bunch of talented artists together. When are you doing it? Uh on December 21st. Uh due date is December 7th.

Oh, so this we got this whole month. Yeah, I'll probably do a little dragon for you or something. Oh, dude. I I greatly appreciate it, man. That would be really cool. So, yeah, I'll give you all the info. So, all right, guys. Thanks so much for listening.

I appreciate you guys so much. Support your local tattooer, man. Get out there, become homies with your, you know, peers. And don't ever think that the person across the city doesn't want to talk to you because most likely they do. They're sitting around just like us. One love. All right. Bye.

Bye, guys. Peace. Brought to you by Maverick Supply Co. Boy.